Bian Chenbin, Zheng Zhuangzhuang, Su Jing, Chang Sitong, Yu Huiyuan, Bao Jindian, Xin Ying, Jiang Xin
Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Radiation Oncology and Therapy, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2023 Sep 12;14:1271613. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1271613. eCollection 2023.
Copper is an indispensable micronutrient for the development and replication of all eukaryotes, and its redox properties are both harmful and beneficial to cells. An imbalance in copper homeostasis is thought to be involved in carcinogenesis. Importantly, cancer cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis cannot be separated from the effects of copper. Cuproposis is a copper-dependent form of cell death that differs from other existing modalities of regulatory cell death. The role of cuproptosis in the pathogenesis of the nervous and cardiovascular systems has been widely studied; however, its impact on malignant tumors is yet to be fully understood from a clinical perspective. Exploring signaling pathways related to cuproptosis will undoubtedly provide a new perspective for the development of anti-tumor drugs in the future. Here, we systematically review the systemic and cellular metabolic processes of copper and the regulatory mechanisms of cuproptosis in cancer. In addition, we discuss the possibility of targeting copper ion drugs to prolong the survival of cancer patients, with an emphasis on the most representative copper ionophores and chelators. We suggest that attention should be paid to the potential value of copper in the treatment of specific cancers.
铜是所有真核生物发育和复制所必需的微量营养素，其氧化还原特性对细胞既有有害影响也有益处。铜稳态失衡被认为与癌症发生有关。重要的是，癌细胞的增殖、血管生成和转移都与铜的作用密不可分。铜死亡是一种依赖铜的细胞死亡形式，与其他现有的调节性细胞死亡方式不同。铜死亡在神经和心血管系统发病机制中的作用已得到广泛研究；然而，从临床角度来看，其对恶性肿瘤的影响尚未完全明确。探索与铜死亡相关的信号通路无疑将为未来抗肿瘤药物的开发提供新的视角。在此，我们系统地综述了铜的全身和细胞代谢过程以及癌症中铜死亡的调控机制。此外，我们讨论了靶向铜离子药物以延长癌症患者生存期的可能性，重点介绍了最具代表性的铜离子载体和螯合剂。我们建议应关注铜在特定癌症治疗中的潜在价值。
